Laertes is an independent press committed to literary translation — to the furthering of that particular art. Our aim is also to relay works from far and wide, in any genre, that render the full human weight.

TRANSLATORS FOR The Demolition of The Eiffel Tower

Robert Elsie is a Canadian writer, translator, interpreter, and specialist in Albanian studies. He has published more than one hundred books on Albania, including Albanian Literature: A Short History (2005) and A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History (2013). A large collection of Albanian literature in English translation can be found on his website www.AlbanianLiterature.net.

Janice Mathie-Heck is a Canadian teacher, poet, translator, editor, and literary critic. In 2000, she began to collaborate with Robert Elsie on translations of Albanian literature, producing English versions of numerous historical texts, two forewords, two novels, five volumes of poetry, and one drama. As a poet, translator, and essayist, she has contributed to various literary reviews and e-zines, including Le Chinook, filling Station, Freefall, Frontenac House website, The Gauntlet, Illyria, Jeta e re,Mehr Licht!, Phoenix, Tempulli, Transcript, TranscUlturAl, Translation Review, Wasafiri, and Wordweavers’ Chapbook. Individually, she has translated many of the poems of the Albanian writer Johan Vupa and worked with the Kosovar playwright,Doruntina Basha on the translation of her award-winning play, The Finger.

Alexandra Channer began translating in Kosovo in 2009 while conducting research for her doctoral thesis on Albanian national self-determination movements. Alex worked as a freelancer for four years in Kosovo, translating a variety of political and technical documents. Her collaboration with Jeton Neziraj began at this time, and she has since translated and edited many of Jeton’s plays. She also translates a selection of prose and poetry for the annual POLIP festival held in Prishtina. Alex is a human-rights expert, and she currently works for a consultancy based in the United Kingdom. Her professional background is in politics and human rights.